MNICS - Scroll down for photos and/or at the top, click on "Green Valley Perimeter Map" to see a digital/aerial map showing the size of the fire. The main highway out here is shown in green directly in the middle of the area. (The fire jumped the main highway during the afternoon on Tuesday, May 14.)

We're safe and the fire is mostly contained. Although, there are plenty of hot spots with potentials for flare-ups so there are still those in high risk areas who need to remain cautious at this point.

I took more photos of the damage today when I brought the kids out to the park this afternoon as we drove by the area of the fire's path. But I'm extremely tired tonight. I was up until 5:00 a.m. last night (Tuesday to Wednesday) because I was so anxious about the fire. I'll try to post those photos soon.

It was eerie to see the damage. The ground is completely black and charred and there were spots where we could see smoke still today but we had expected to see all of the trees completely burned and just the black trunks standing. But the only part that was completely burned in the areas we could see from the main highway was the ground/brush. The trees remained standing. The pine trees still had their green needles and the buds on the rest of the trees still remained green. It was quite bizarre to see, and completely unexpected for the sheer size of the fire. I'm not sure if it's like that everywhere but it was for as far as we could see in the areas along the highway.

They're expected to have all roads opened up again by Thursday (last I heard) so we're hoping to do some more driving around at that point. It's quite the solemn feeling to see it all and think about... And it's a miracle that there were no injuries or casualties for such a massive blaze.

Continued thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have lost their homes, outbuildings and businesses.

We're so grateful and thankful for all of the firefighters and rescue personnel and volunteers who worked, and are continueing to work, to keep everyone safe!

May 15, 2013

If you were asked to evacuate your home because of a fire... what would you take with you?

{View of smoke clouds from our driveway.}

{View as we drove down our road.}

That's the very question so many locals had to ask themselves this beautiful, clear and sunny evening as they were asked to evacuate their homes in the path of a raging fire stretching approximately 10 miles long and covering (at last estimate) between 4000-5000 acres out here in north/central Minnesota. (I'll be interested to see if that's acurate once more official reports are out...)

Many of our neighbors received this very call. {We didn't get a call but only because we don't have/use a land line and only use our cell phones.} We didn't evacuate and the last we heard on the radio, we no longer needed to if we were south of a particular line, which we are. But it really made us stop and think. And it's a good reminder to be ready in case of any emergency, which we realized we weren't... And it also made me realize how little material things mattered. That's not to say that I wouldn't be beside myself and have plenty of panic attacks if we were to lose everything (because just the thought of it this evening gave me plenty of anxiety and fear) - but it just really made me think how little 'things' matter when compared to human life.

And, if you're wondering, we decided we would grab all of our boxes of photos, our laptop and PC (which both have photos on them) and our folder of important documents (social security cards, etc.). And then any other little things that we had time for but our photos are irreplaceable. Everything else can be replaced.

{Smoke plumes as we headed toward town.}

{Smoke over our little town. Excuse the windshield in all these photos - I was just snapping photos as Mark was driving.}

The combination of extremely gusty winds and super dry weather were the perfect recipe for disaster as the wildfire raged out of control for hours, and continues to burn. Thankfully, the wind has greatly diminished at this point (well after midnight) and the fire isn't spreading as quickly as it had been. We're hoping and praying it continues to stay that way. And our prayers are also going out to all of our fire fighters, police officers, emergency personnel, and the numerous volunteers who are working around the clock to do everything they can to be sure that everyone is safe. Our prayers are also with all of those who have been devastated by the loss of their homes, of which we've heard there have been quite a few at this point, and with all of those who are affected by the fire.

As of right now, there have been no reports of injuries. Hoping and praying that stays that way as well! I'm anxious for some more up-to-date reports on the acreage and homes lost... (And hoping it doesn't continue to increase...) And I'm anxious to hear how it started as there have only been speculations going about.

{My camera isn't capable of zooming in enough to get a good picture. These flames were about a mile north of where I was standing - but you get the idea here... This shows the fire leaping high above the tree tops (the dark line just at the top of the field here). This is the furthest east point of the fire, at the time of the photos. These flames are out near the Twin Lakes/Stocking Lake area. They were taken from Stocking Lake Rd.}

{You can just make out the pine trees if you look closely - that's the darker area across the middle of the photo(s) - and the flames are high above the trees where you can see them.}

Mark and I ran out at supper time to check out the fire after seeing it mentioned on Facebook and seeing large smoke clouds northeast of us. As we drove through town, they were evacuating the nursing home residents via local school buses. There were emergency vehicles going in every direction. Sirens, lights flashing and traffic like you wouldn't believe from people evacuating and the curious, like ourselves.

There are no words to describe what it was like to drive out there and see flames stretching and leaping in a path about a mile long, about a mile/mile and a half north of the field we stopped at, which was only about six miles or so from our home. It took my breath away to see it. Unreal. I'd never seen anything like it before. (Although, I'd seen woods on fire once before in my life on a road trip.) It was beyond devastating to see.

We sat there for awhile watching in complete awe and dismay. After a
time, we decided to go home to get the kids so they could see and ended
up back out for another two or three hours, at which point things began
to look like they were dying down or at least look like they were
slowing down. And we got word that we could sleep safely (for the most part) tonight so we went back home.

{These photos (above) were taken while the sun was still bright and shining in the sky - just like the first photos you see here. The smoke coverage was unreal - it looked like a cloudy day near the fire. That area that is really bright, above, we believe was a building on fire. It was the only part of this area that was still burning really bright when we came back an hour later with the kids... I get a ball in the pit of my stomach from being there and seeing all of this, and again looking at these photos. It's absolutely awful...}

Thinking of all of our friends/family who have homes closer to the fire than ours. Praying you (and we) are all kept safe!

P.S. I've been meaning to start blogging about my diagnosis, because I finally got one a while back. I'm dealing with Mycoplasma and Lyme Disease, both tick born infections. I still plan to because I want to keep record of it for myself. I've been really sick these past four months but I just recently began to feel better.